4-H Spring 2018

Ellie competed in the Food Challenge at the Houston Rodeo and the District RoundUp, and Mary Clare competed in photography and won 3rd place with her decorated cake at the County Fair!

With the Fair Queen, their friend from ballet Kelley Ann

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Club meetings at our house

Sharing about 4-H on a local radio show

County Fair

Honorable mention for Ellie's jewelry

Steven made a knife sheath

The winning decorated cake!

Food Challenge at the District Round Up

Moms having fun!

County Fair 2017

Both girls did an amazing job at the County Fair this year. Mary Clare only entered Photography, and she was awarded "Reserve Champion" (2nd place!) for her amazing silhouette photo of her two sisters and the sunset. Ellie entered Handicrafts and got 5th place for her clay bead jewelry set and 4th place in Candy for her American flag butter mints.

They did amazing work on their entries and their interviews for making Top 10. Neither of them had ever gotten in Top 5 (Ellie had top 10 last year), which goes to the live auction the next night. What an honor for them both! I was a proud mama and proud 4-H Club Manager! They got to stand with their items (Ellie just with her 4th place mints since they can only auction one item) and then walk around during the live auction while there was live bidding going on. They earned about $1000 each at the live auction!

Mary Clare's Photo

Ellie's Jewelry Set and Flag Mints

Auction night

With their ballet friend who won Grand Champion for her rolls

The big winners (with little sis who always wants in on the pictures)!

Rodeo and District Food Challenge

I have so much to share from the last few months, but our laptop is still on the fritz and not loading new photos! I'll have to add in more as time goes by and just share these for now.  The big Food Challenge at the Livestock Show and Rodeo took place in mid-March. The Sugar and Spice Chefs once again did an excellent job and made it to finals, placing 3rd overall for the Intermediate division (8th grade and under). We are so proud of these girls and all their hard work. This is a nerve-wracking competition as their every move is scrutinized by judges and they have to be prepared for all kinds of nutrition and cooking questions during the interview. 

and with their dish and their little mascot in her matching apron!

The girls also won 1st place in their division at the District Roundup competition in early May. That will be the last food challenge contest they can do together for several years, as two of the girls will be in the high school division next year. So hopefully we will have teams competing in both the intermediate and senior divisions next year. Our other big 4-H event this spring was the county fair, and I'll save that for another post, because it was an exciting experience for the girls!

Here are some snapshots of the rodeo contest. 

I can't edit on my computer, so you'll have to forgive the haze, 

yellow casts, and the lack of cropping and straightening. 

I think all my settings were wrong on the camera that day!

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Horticulture Contests

Two of the other events our 4-H club entered in the Houston Rodeo were the Horticulture contests. One family from our club entered the Rodeo Cup, which was a contest where the kids had to make a floral arrangement for a table and a wedding bouquet. Then there were 4 girls signed up for the Dining Duets event, including Mary Clare (Ellie's partner had to drop). They gave each duo a surprise theme and supplies...fresh flowers and decor, and they set up a table with the given theme. They had one hour to work on it!

We were proud of the girls' hard work, and the older duo was awarded 10th place for their tablescape. Congrats, girls, for another fun 4-H event!!!

MC and her partner working hard and having fun!

The other team from our club

Mary Clare's duet's final creation!

All four girls with the other team's 10th place entry!

And a snapshot of the 1st place winner!

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Food Challenge

Our favorite 4-H event so far is the Food Challenge. The kids participated in it when we lived in Corpus Christi, but this was our first Food Challenge contest to enter with our new 4-H club since we've moved back home.

In the Food Challenge, the kids come prepared with a big bin of cooking supplies. Then they are given some "secret ingredients" that are intended to be used for a specific recipe, but they encourage creativity and thinking outside the box, so it's fun to see what they come up with! They have 40 minutes to cook their dish and prepare to give a 5 minute presentation to the judges about what they made, how they made it, the nutritional value, and the cost of the food.

The big Houston Rodeo started hosting this contest last year, so our club decided to enter a team during registration back before Christmas. Our 4-H club spent most of 2015 focused on Food and Nutrition, and the girls on the team continued to practice this year as they approached the contest.

One of the girls had to drop at the last minute due to a death in the family, so Ellie ended up joining the team.  They were called the Sweet and Spicy Chefs, and they did an amazing job, winning 2nd place overall in their Junior age division (3rd-8th grade)! We are so proud of them and look forward to another Food Challenge this spring!

We were nearly late, sprinting through the exhibit hall to find the spot where the contest would be held. But they made it in time! Here's the orientation:

And they begin cooking!

Little brothers watching from the stands

Daddy brought BopBop to come and watch!

We aren't sure who was filming, but it definitely made for an exciting time!

They made a vegetable stir-fry during the first round.

While awaiting the awards, Thomas got to do Mutton Busting!

There he goes!

The kids enjoyed some time in the AgVenture exhibits (and we lost Thomas a few times)

Little sis had fun running around!

The awards for the first round were so exciting! They awarded 1st-3rd place in each food category (meats, grains, fruits/veggies, Nutritious Snacks) for both juniors and seniors. The girls were so utterly excited and surprised to hear their number called for 1st place in the Fruits and Vegetables category! They were hugging and jumping up and down. So cute and happy! All the 1st place winners would advance to the final round, so we got to stay for this last round with the top 8 teams.

All four junior teams were given the same ingredients, which were intended to be used to make salmon patties (canned salmon, an egg, crackers, etc). The girls made a salmon dip with a small side salad instead, and they did a great job working together.

They had to present in front of 3 judges and a bunch of Rodeo volunteers

So intimidating, but they did great!

Here is their award-winning dish!

SECOND PLACE!

So proud of these girls!

What a fun learning experience! We look forward to many more Food Challenges!